Episode 019: Clear Choice
Qi Yu said guardedly, “I don’t know, but you can tell me.”
“Alright…” Zhang Cheng Xuan squeezed the coffee cup and said, “Since you said that, I think you should be familiar with the Li Zao Group, right?”
“En.”
“I am the son of Zhang Youfa, vice chairman of Li Zao Group,” Zhang Cheng Xuan paused briefly, “However, before I was twelve years old, the Zhang family didn’t officially recognized my existence.”
Qi Yu was stunned. Didn’t officially recognize?
…… An illegitimate child?
Later by chance, I met Zhang Youfa’s younger brother, who adopted me and is now my father. So legally, I am Zhang Aifa’s son. I call him ‘dad’ and I call my biological father ‘ uncle ‘.” Zhang Cheng Xuan glanced at Qi Yu and smiled bitterly, “Kind of complicated, huh?”
“En…” It was certainly complicated. Moreover, Qi Yu never expected that Zhang Cheng Xuan would be honest to the point of…exposing all this.
“Because my identity in the Zhang family is rather embarrassing, I have been accustomed to weighing words and watching expressions since I was a child. You may think that I’m being fake. I also don’t deny that I approached you with some personal motives, but Qi Yu…” Zhang Cheng Xuan looked at him and there was a glimmer of envy and admiration in his eyes, “You don’t even know how good you are. If it weren’t for the high walls you erected yourself, who wouldn’t want to approach you?”
Qi Yu paid no attention to the latter half of what he said, he only paid attention to the “private motives” Zhang Cheng Xuan mentioned in the first half. He questioned closely, “So, you also know my background?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan nodded. “Mei Wei Apparel, a subsidiary of the Si Yuan Group, a constant competitor of Fia Apparel. Unfortunately, my dad is now in charge of Fia.”
Qi Yu was a bit puzzled. Didn’t Complex Number say that his shares in Si Yuan couldn’t be seen online? How did Zhang Cheng Xuan find out about his relationship with Mei Wei?
But this question was answered by Zhang Cheng Xuan in the next second.
“The first time I heard of you was the year before last. At that time, I had just been admitted to Stafford and the family hosted a banquet for me. My uncle said at the dinner table that Mei Wei’s founder, Qi Yuancheng, had twin sons who were exceptionally beautiful. They seemed to be around my age. Qi Yuancheng divorced many years ago and took one of his sons to the United States. He has never returned to China.”
Qi Yu frowned. The information was accurate, but what was with this strange description, “beautiful”?
Zhang Cheng Xuan said again, “When I came back to school this year, Gai Zhishi told me that there was a very handsome and reserved Chinese student in our college with the surname Qi. The day I saw you for the first time, you were wearing ME·WE clothes and when you went to the picnic, you drove a Porsche and had on your family’s brand of clothes. That’s why I connected you with Mei Wei.”
Qi Yu was secretly alarmed. This Zhang Cheng Xuan’s intuition was very keen. If he hadn’t had Complex Number supporting him from behind, the current situation might have been reversed.
“But, I didn’t expect that you would be so low-key. Gao Zhishi told me he’d tried to sound you out several times but you revealed absolutely nothing,” Zhang Cheng Xuan smiled, “If you didn’t force me to be honest today, I wouldn’t have been able to confirm your identity as ‘Young Master Qi’ of the Si Yuan Group.”
Qi Yu: “……”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Hl Te: “Ktfc kts vlv sbe afii wf?
Zhang Cheng Xuan: “I kept it from him, because I didn’t want him to look down on me. His parents are both intellectuals. He’s someone who has high moral requirements of himself and others. I’m not hiding it from you because I know it’s useless even if I do. We belong to the same circle. When you inherit the family business, you’ll run into me sooner or later and you’ll know my background. Instead of letting you find out those things by yourself, it’s better that I be forthcoming now and tell you myself.”
Qi Yu raised his eyebrows. “You’re not worried I would look down on you?”
Zhang Cheng Xuan looked at Qi Yu and smiled. “I told you that I’m good at weighing words and watching expressions. I’ve received a lot of loaded looks since I was a child. I’m particularly perceptive to what other people’s attitudes are. When I told you about my origins, I had been observing you. As long as you showed even a trace of contempt in your eyes, I wouldn’t have continued being so honest and open to you.”
Hearing that Zhang Cheng Xuan had been on the receiving end of a lot of loaded looks since he was a child, for some reason, Qi Yu felt a little sympathy for him.
Zhang Cheng Xuan said, “Qi Yu, if possible, I really want to be close friends with you.”
***
He had no classes in the afternoon. It was only four o’clock by the time Qi Yu and Zhang Cheng Xuan returned home from their talk. He asked Complex Number in WeChat: “Are you up?”
F1S: “Just woke up…”
Qi Yu knew that the other party was about to go to work in an hour and they probably didn’t have much time to talk in detail. So, after a moment of hesitation, he asked: “Voice chat?”
F1S: “You want to voice chat with me so early in the morning? Did you miss me that much?”
Qi Yu: “…………”
F1S: “Come on.”
Having said that, the other side had already taken the initiative to call him.
After the call connected, Complex Number called out a ‘hey’, and then asked, “What’s the matter?” His voice was somewhat hoarse from just waking up, but his tone was normal.
Qi Yu said, “I confirmed with Zhang Cheng Xuan that he’s really part of the Zhang family.”
Complex Number was stunned. “That quickly? How’d you confirm it?”
“I asked him directly,” Qi Yu took a bottle of sparkling water from the fridge. Tilting his head, he held the phone against his shoulder and said while opening the cap, “I just spent the last couple of hours talking with him in the cafe.”
Complex Number couldn’t quite believe it. “You just asked? How’d you ask?”
Qi Yu: “I said I don’t like hiding and I had him be honest with me.”
“I think you’re a bit…” Complex Number made as if to speak and then stopped. It seemed a bit as though he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Qi Yu drank some water and then with narrowed eyes, said, “What did you want to say just now?”
“……What?”
“‘A bit ‘what’? Why didn’t you finish? Are you secretly scolding me again?” Qi Yu snorted coldly, “Don’t think I can’t hear it.”
“Then what do you think I wanted to say?” asked Complex Number.
Qi Yu put down the bottle and held his phone properly. “That I’m stupid.”
——What else could this man say aside from disparaging his IQ?
Complex Number laughed. “Look, it’s fine as long as you know it. Why do you still insist on me saying it?”
Qi Yu was so angry that he wanted to punch him. “Why do you say I’m stupid? What did I do wrong?”
Complex Number: “When you asked him directly, didn’t you also reveal your own identity?”
Qi Yu: “……”
Damn, that does seem to be the case…
“You never thought about it. What if he continued to pretend to be stupid and played you?” Complex Number said, “I thought you would observe him for a while, and wait until you had more certainty before attacking.”
“But he asked a favor of me,” Qi Yuli argued, “He invited me to form a team to apply for the Entrepreneurship Practice class. If he continued playing stupid, I would have rejected him!”
In any case, Zhang Cheng Xuan really did lay his cards on the table. Qi Yu felt he had won this round.
But Qi Yu reflected on what Complex Number had just said and his eyes narrowed once again.
Compared to himself, Complex Number was really patient. Then, did that mean that when Complex Number interacted with him, he used these same tricks?
If he really does use it and he hides it well, will he not be able to discover it at all…???
“Forget it, that Xiao Zhang is just a college student. This method of yours is enough to deal with him.” Complex Number asked, “So what did you talk about in those two hours?”
Qi Yu came back to his senses. First, he calmly told the other party about the Zhang Family’s gossip he found on the Internet, and then he said, “He’s the illegitimate son of the Zhang Family’s second brother. Later, he was adopted by Zhang Aifa. So now, he’s regarded as the son of the third Zhang Family brother”
Complex Number was momentarily stupefied. “He told you about such a complicated background?”
“Yeah.” Qi Yu was also a little surprised. He thought Zhang Cheng Xuan would have held something back.
However, it was exactly the other party’s frankness that moved him.
Later, he agreed to form a group with Zhang Cheng Xuan for the Entrepreneurship Practice class. This could be regarded as his response to his request to be friends.
Just as he was starting to be immersed in his thoughts, Complex Number suddenly let out a sigh over at his end. He said, “Either that guy is as stupid as you, or he is much smarter than you.”
Qi Yu: “???”
Qi Yu: “Who are you calling stupid?”
“Ah, no,” Complex Number hurriedly changed his words, “You’re all college students. It’s inevitable that you’re all a little simple.”
Qi Yu gritted his teeth and said, “Then explain to me why he might be so much smarter than I am?”
Complex Number: “Using personal experience to win the sympathy of others and using sincere words in exchange for other’s trust, all in order to achieve their own goals. This is a common tactic in business negotiations. People who can use this technique usually have a characteristic… …”
Qi Yu: “What characteristic?”
Complex Number seemed to have gotten out of bed. After some rustling on his end, he said, “They’re able to perform their emotions well. Basically, those who can play this well are all Film Emperors.”
Qi Yu was unconvinced. “He’s only twenty years old.”
Complex Number: “He may be more experienced when it comes to the ways of the world than you are.”
Qi Yu: “Couldn’t he have been showing his true feelings?”
There was the quiet sound of slippers rubbing against the floor. Complex Number left the bedroom and headed to the bathroom. “Then let me ask you. Do you sympathize with him?”
Qi Yu: “……”
Complex Number asked again, “Did he achieve his goal?”
Qi Yu: “…………”
Qi Yu was still struggling: “He just wants to be friends with me.”
Complex Number: “For people in your social class, friendships are essentially a kind of benefit exchange relationship?”
“Why must you insist on portraying everything so…” Qi Yu couldn’t quite understand it. He even felt a little angry. “In your eyes, are all the relationships in this world just a cold exchange of interest? Do I have to reject him in order to appear smart to you?”
Suddenly there was silence for a few seconds before the Complex Number spoke again, “Qi Yu, I didn’t say that. I’m just telling you that for every choice you make, you may have to pay a corresponding price. Calm down and think about it. Building a friendship with Zhang Cheng Xuan, is it out of sympathy and understanding, or is it for your own needs? Or, if we take it a step further, is it based on your principles for making friends? If you think Zhang Cheng Xuan is a friend worth making, then there’s totally no problem — make your choices with a clear head and enjoy what it brings you so that even if you were to be hurt, you can recover as soon as possible.”
The man’s voice, with the characteristic reverberation in a bathroom, passed into Qi Yu’s ears, making Qi Yu calm down instantly.
Just as he was thinking about the other party’s reasonable remark, Complex Number suddenly changed to a gentle tone, “Okay, Little Fish, I’m going to take a shower and go to work. Leave me a message if there’s anything you want to tell me.”
Qi Yu: “……!?”
Typing it in chat is one thing, but he even dares to call me that through voice call?
And he blurted it out so naturally too!?
The author has something to say: [Little Theater]
Fu: Zhang Cheng Xuan is choosing his friends purposefully. Look at yourself. You’re not a kid anymore, how’d you get fished up!
7 fish: I also chose you purposefully!
Fu: No, you just purposefully jumped into the pit I dug for you.
7 fish:? ? ? ?
Translator’s note: In the novel summary/intro, it was mentioned that one of the alternative title for this was ‘Records of Cultivating a Handsome High-Powered Businessman’ and it’s chapters like this that make me feel like that would have been the more appropriate title. But ‘The Hunter Behind the Scenes’ which became the title of the physical published book is also not bad.
Now I don’t know how to judge Zhang Cheng Xuan anymore. I’m gonna have to wait to know if he’s bad news.
F1S is really smooth. I can’t wait for them to meet again. 🙈
Thank you for the update!
Like there is no vivid black or brilliant white? I agree
Heehehehe they’re being subtly lovey dovey like old couple 😂😂
💙💙💙
Thanks for the chapter>.<
thanks for the chapter!
F1S is definitely showing Qi Yu how little he knows about the world despite all his father exposed him to. In such a cute and sassy fashion too😂
Diary of da Fu raising his wifey remotely
haha agreed
real
Tsk tsk tsk, F1S really know how to appease the little fish….
I really enjoy the story so far. Many thanks for your trasnslation 🙂
Our qi yu has been exposed to be more gullible and naive than he thought despite his past experience …which was honestlt still sheltered since most of what he saw were more blatant than the cunning Fu and the ambigious Zhang.